Chapter 4

In the middle of the night, pain in my back kept me awake.

I gave up on sleep, sat against the headboard, and took out my phone to catch up on emails from my multinational company.

My phone chimed, breaking the silence. I frowned and looked at the screen.

An anonymous number had sent me a video clip with no image. I played it and heard Enzo's voice.

"I'll have someone arrange a new identity for you. Stay close to me, and it'll be easier to look after Rami."

So that was how he meant to deal with it.

He'd give Linda a new identity, keep her close, and make sure I never knew she was there.

It was absurd.

The pain in my lower back kept building. I managed to call 911 and give them the address before everything went black.

I woke in a hospital.

The door wasn't fully closed, and I could hear people talking outside.

"It's strange. Mr. Wayne hasn't left the private maternity room, and his own wife just came out of intensive care without a single visit from him."

The same hospital. The same night.

My children and I had been rushed into emergency care while he sat with someone else and her baby.

Then the door opened.

Linda came in smiling with Rami in her arms.

She held the baby out in front of me. "Look, Rita. Doesn't Rami look just like Enzo?"

I turned my face away and did not answer.

"Enzo knew the moment they brought you in.

"Would you like to know what he did?

"He said Rami comes first now. When he heard the baby had choked on his milk, he left you and came straight to me."

I turned back to her and laughed. "You're pitiful."

"What?"

"You have no education and no skills. Sex is the only way you know how to get ahead, and you're naive enough to think it'll last."

I went on. "Can you promise there won't be another Linda at his side? Or a third?"

The color went out of her face.

I smiled. "Crawl back to your room and keep playing the fragile little victim for him."

"You!" Linda stared at me through clenched teeth.

Then she forced a flinch and took half a step back. "Rita, don't be angry. I only wanted you to see the baby."

She faked a stumble and knocked the IV stand over with her elbow.

The stand toppled with a crash.

It hit the table, sending bottles and vials tumbling to the floor.

The IV tore out of my hand, and blood ran down the back of it.

The pain in my back spiked, and my whole body seized. I reached for the emergency call button, but Linda ripped out the cord.

"Blame yourself, Rita. You were in my way."

She dropped the baby into my arms, pulled her hair loose, and screamed, "Please! Don't take my baby! Please, no!"

Rami began wailing in fright.

The door flew open, and Enzo burst in.

Linda was curled up in the corner, trembling, while I sat holding Rami and glaring at her.